Thomas Enraght-Moony, CEO of Match.com France

Match was founded in San Francisco in 1995 and today is a global leader in online personals. We have been in France since 2002 and settled here in Paris where over one third of all French singles live. There are 15 million singles today in France and we came into this market along with our partner, Microsoft Network (MSN), in 2002.

France is a terrific market for Match. First of all, it is a large market, with over 15 million singles. The second thing that we saw was a high level of Internet penetration and, again, Paris is a city that leads the way here. The third thing we saw was a real gap in the market. 80% of French singles, including those here in Paris, told us that they were looking for an enduring relationship and most were dissatisfied with the services that were out there. Therefore, in 2006, we decided to launch the Match.com brand, with a great advertising campaign here in Paris. 

For Match, success starts with listening to the customers and asking them what they want. 80% of French singles told us they were looking for an enduring relationship. This year, we are going to roll out a new test, as part of the Match service, to help people understand themselves better and find better matches, based on their underlying brain chemistry.